A group of small business owners and individuals in six states is suing the federal government over an IRS regulation imposed under the Affordable Care Act, which obliterates the distinction drawn by Congress between state and federal insurance exchanges.> cei.org/obamacare

From buying “organic” to “gluten-free,” consumers seem to be more interested than ever in the ways their food is produced. This spring, legislators in more than 20 states will consider proposals to mandate special labeling of genetically modified foods, to give shoppers one more bit of information.

This may sound reasonable and seem to reflect how our choice-driven marketplace works. But it reflects a deep misunderstanding about what genetic engineering actually is and how it compares to the changes we have been making to crop plants for thousands of years.> Read more

The “reform” of the government-sponsored housing enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) is often described by the media as “ending” Fannie and Freddie. And yes, it does “end” them in the sense that there will no longer be entities named Fannie and Freddie. But most of their functions would simply be transferred to a new giant government entity called the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporation. Not only would the government’s role in subsidizing and micromanaging housing not be reduced, in some ways it would substantially be increased. > Read more

Tuesday morning, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC heard arguments in Halbig v. Sebelius.

A group of small business owners and individuals in six states is suing the federal government over an IRS regulation imposed under the Affordable Care Act, which obliterates the distinction drawn by Congress between state and federal insurance exchanges.> cei.org/obamacare

Tuesday morning, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will markup the Prohibiting In-Flight Voice Communications on Mobile Wireless Devices Act (H.R. 3676). The bill would bar travelers from making cell phone calls on commercial flights—a response to the Federal Communications Commission’s recent proposal to relax its longstanding ban on in-flight cell phone use.H.R. 3676 purports to solve a problem that doesn’t exist by depriving consumers of travel choices, as I explained recently in an op-ed in USA Today. > Read more

There is no evidence that a single ecosystem or human consumer has ever been harmed by a genetically engineered crop, but there are documented cases in which conventional breeding methods have resulted in plants with harmful levels of natural toxins, allergens or antinutrients, or greater susceptibility to disease. > Read more> Interview Miller, Conko

The plaintiffs who lost a recent lawsuit trying to prevent the federal government from providing tax credits to purchase health insurance on federal exchanges have filed for an expedited appeal in the case.

“As this motion for a speedy appeal makes clear, there are compelling reasons for the appeals court act to quickly, because people are making their health insurance plans and billions of taxpayer dollars are now being spent each month in insurance subsidies for policies purchased through federal exchanges,” said Competitive Enterprise Institute general counsel Sam Kazman in a statement. > Read the Accounting Today story> Interview Sam Kazman

UNION PRIVILEGE - TREY KOVACS

Workplacechoice.org: Pennsylvania Bill Challenges Union Privilege

Pennsylvania government unions are spreading misinformation about a bill that would end the practice of public employers deducting union dues from members’ paychecks.

While the bill may face high hurdles for passage, there is another avenue available to Pennsylvanians that can stop public funds from primarily promoting special interest groups, such as unions. Pennsylvania’s Constitution contains a provision known as the “Gift Clause.” > Read more

RealClearMarkets: The Line To Get Into 'Club Euro' Is GrowingIt's 2014 and the euro is still in one piece. In fact, there's a line outside to get into Club Euro. Latvia is the latest to cross the velvet rope, on January 1. Meanwhile, economists who predicted the currency's collapse are baffled why everyone hasn't left, and more importantly, why more are joining.> Read more

This month General Mills announced that it would begin labeling its flagship product, the breakfast cereal Cheerios, as containing no ingredients from GMOs (genetically modified organisms), by which the company means crop plants bred with modern bioengineering techniques.

Whatever the motivation, General Mills may find that its move will neither catch on with "natural foods" devotees-who are unlikely to choose a highly processed, nonorganic breakfast food-nor silence antitechnology activists. > Read more

A report released by The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit criminal justice advocacy group, reveals that the number of prisoners serving life sentences in the US state and federal prisons reached a new record of close to 160,000 in 2012. Of these, 49,000 are serving life without possibility of parole, an increase of 22.2 […]

In January 2010 Haiti suffered from a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. In the months following the disaster the predominantly black Caribbean nation received millions of dollars in aid. Yet most of this revenue came with strings attached and often made its way back into the hands of the countries and corporations that donated it. Much of […]

As new FCC Chairperson Tom Wheeler takes office, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gannett, Media General, Nexstar and the Tribune Company are establishing shell companies to evade federal limits on how much media one entity can control. The wave of consolidation is taking place in small and medium-sized markets where the presence of such conglomerates will be […]

A report conducted by the Taskforce on Preserving Medical Professionalism in National Security Detention Centers concludes that in the wake of 9/11 health professionals operating with military and intelligence services “designed and participated in cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and torture of detainees”. This torture included force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strikes, breaching patient confidentiality, […]

Many mass-produced beers include genetically-modified (GM) ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, corn, potentially carcinogenic food coloring compounds, even monosodium glutamate, Bisphenol A (BPA), and propylene glycol, a component of anti-freeze. Such elements are prevalent in popular domestic brands produced by Miller, Coors, Anheuser-Busch, as well as imported varieties like Guinness, […]